Parag Milk Foods, the maker of Gowardhan butter and cheese, reported pretax profits that more than doubled on year, benefiting from the higher leverage afforded by sales that went up by 21% on year.
On a sequential basis, however, the company’s performance in Jan-Mar quarter was largely comparable to that of Oct-Dec.
Operating profit (EBITDA) rose to Rs 59.5 cr from Rs. 43.3 cr last year, while total revenue rose to Rs 522 cr from Rs 433 cr last year. It was flat on a sequential basis.
Pretax profit jumped to Rs 37.4 cr in the fourth quarter from Rs 18.0 cr last year and Rs 36.8 cr in the preceding three months.
Due to large variation in tax levels, the improvement in profit after tax was lower. The company reported net profit of Rs 26.2 cr compared to net profit of Rs 22.1 cr last year.
For the full year, the company’s revenue has grown 12.9%, while EBITDA jumped to Rs 205.3 cr from Rs 100.6 cr in FY17,
The company said its growth this year was achieved “through aggressive distribution expansion and addition of new variants in the value added category.”
“Various initiatives taken during the quarter ensured that momentum towards increasing Value Added Products’ growth continues,” said Chairman Devendra Shah.
“Going forward, we will continue to focus on innovation to drive incremental growth & profitability for the coming years,” he added.
The company, established in 1992, is the largest private dairy FMCG company with a pan-India presence, and has its manufacturing facilities at Manchar in Maharashtra and Palamaner in Andhra Pradesh.
Its Bhagyalaxmi Dairy Farm has more than 2,000 Holstein Friesian cows, with a mechanized milking process.
It offers traditional products like Ghee, Dahi, Paneer etc. under “Gowardhan” brand and items like cheese, UHT milk, chaas, lassi, yoghurt etc. under its ‘Go’ brand.